How to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style is a series of instructional manga drawing art books. The 'Sketching Manga-Style' in the title means the only pencil used in the series. The artists whose work are featured are Hikaru Hayashi, Takehiko Matsumoto and Kazuaki Morita.

Volume 1 is a 184-page paperback.

It starts with the very basics at sketching and planning, more specifically on figure drawing. It teaches stuff like drawing heads, faces and posing characters - in manga style of course. There are many examples of different body parts and types of poses. The examples drawn are very nice because they are from professional artists. Also included are two step-by-step look with photos at the drawing process of the manga artists. Great for getting a feel on how they work.

There are lots of helpful drawing tips on beside every example, on every page. For example in drawing the neck, there would be examples on different gender, drawn in different perspective to show the muscles and there are commentary on how the neck works. Same goes for other body parts.

Having prior knowledge on anatomy is beneficial prior to reading this book. The anatomy section in this book is very thin. And since manga is a form of stylization, knowledge of basic anatomy is fundamental and will be useful while following the examples.

For those interested in learning to draw manga, this is a book I can recommend easily.

@daemonofpain
I won't recommend getting the German edition if you can't read German. You won't be able to understand what they are teaching. It's easier to learn if you understand why drawings have to be done a certain way, rather than just following along.

This series costs way too much even when used. The books are great but I can't imagine anyone paying what's being asked for them. I'm surprised the price hasn't dropped more yet sense the company must be losing money from people resorting to downloading scans of the pages online. I ordered a copy of volume one from Border's a long time ago when it was still just $20 USD, but then they canceled my order for some reason I can't remember and the price immediately shot past $400 USD.